End of Session Update

The 2014 Session adjourned on Friday — ahead of schedule — bringing an end to one of the most productive two years at our State Capitol. We ended session after passing “Tax Bill 2” and the supplemental budget. “Tax Bill 2” provides $103 million in additional tax cuts to Minnesota homeowners, renters, farmers and businesses. Once the bill is signed into law, the Minnesota Legislature will have provided $550 million in tax cuts this session – providing tax cuts for nearly 2 million Minnesotans.

More than one million Minnesotans received tax cuts in the first tax bill passed this session. The first bill also repealed three business-to-business taxes — including the repeal of the warehouse tax, which I chief-authored.

Our supplemental budget included critical investments in caregivers and education. The budget increases funding for home and community-based long-term care providers by 5 percent. This is the first increase these hard-working providers have seen in years.

The budget also provides a formula funding increase for K-12 schools — an increase of $25 per pupil — to further improve education outcomes. The budget also increases funding for early childhood scholarships and starting in fiscal year 2016, lifts the cap on scholarship funding per child.

When I was sworn-in in January of 2013, Minnesota was facing another massive deficit and an $800 million IOU to our schools. Minnesotans sent us to the Capitol to end the gridlock, work together and make progress. We paid back our schools and invested in a brighter future for middle-class Minnesotans through all-day kindergarten, a college tuition freeze, and job creation initiatives. I worked to secure funding for the Homeless Youth Act, keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of children, and increase economic disclosure from public officials to boost public integrity.

You can see a summary of the 2013-2014 Legislature’s accomplishments below:

2013-2014 Legislature: Progress for Minnesota

E-12 Education

·Invested $525 million in Minnesota’s E-12 education system, providing needed funding for schools to reduce class sizes and boost student achievement.

·Fully funded all-day, every day kindergarten for every Minnesota child for the first time in state history.

·Invested in early learning scholarships aimed at closing the achievement gap.

·Paid back the IOU owed to our schools in full.

Higher Education

·Froze college tuition for students at U of M and MnSCU after a decade of historic tuition increases and debt and provided significant new resources to the state grant program.

Middle-Class Tax Cuts

·The legislature put middle-class Minnesotans first with the $1.2 billion surplus, providing $550 million in tax cuts to more than 2 million Minnesotans.

·I worked to lead the charge to repeal the warehouse tax and other business-to-business taxes.

Balanced Budget That Puts Middle-Class First

·The legislature added $150 million to our budget reserve and has a $600 million expected surplus into the future. This is the first structurally balanced budget in more than a decade.

A Stronger Economy

·Raised Minnesota’s minimum wage in stages to $9.50 for large business and $7.75 for small businesses by August 2016. More than 350,000 Minnesotans will get a raise. No one who works hard and puts in 40 hours a week should have to live in poverty.

·Enacted the Women’s Economic Security Act, which aims to close the gender pay gap, strengthen workplace protections and flexibility for pregnant mothers, and expand employment opportunities for women in high-wage, high-demand professions. When women have equal opportunities to succeed, it means stronger families, stronger communities, and a brighter economic future for our state.

·Invested in proven strategies to support job creation: the Minnesota Investment Fund to encourage small businesses expansion, the Minnesota Trade Office to help Minnesota small businesses compete globally, and key workforce development investments to help address our state’s “job skills” gap.

·Cut $346 million in taxes for small businesses – one of the largest tax cuts for small businesses in state history – by reducing the rate employers pay to fund the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.

Health and Human Services

·Prioritized nursing homes and long-term care provider by providing them with a much-needed funding increase.

·Funded cost-preventive mental health initiatives for adults and children, such as expanding school-based mental health services and mental health crisis response services.

Marriage Equality

·Made Minnesota the 12th state to give everyone the freedom to marry the person they love.

And we have done this largely with bipartisan support. More than 90 percent of the bills signed into law over the last two years have received bipartisan support. That’s good news for our state.

Minnesota has momentum, but there is more work to be done in the future. The best way to build on our progress is to continue growing our economy from the middle-out. That means continuing to fight for our families, students, workers, seniors and our local communities instead of the gridlock politics of the past.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing many of you over the coming months while I’m at events in the district. Thank you for the honor of being your voice in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

Laurie Halverson

State Representative

District 51B